"Petunia!" she heard her mother call from the other side. Ahh!! Not now. Her dream, she had a dream of him again. The man with the sand colored skin and dark hair. She could not recall his face because it was too dark, but the mark. His birthright, and her fingers trailing across it tracing the outline. Moisture started to pool between Petunia's legs. Okay! Time to get up.

　　Last night was another hot steamy dream of this mystery man. She could only wonder who the man was and why something about this strange dream made her feel discomfort. Why?

　　Before she got up to eat breakfast she took another anti- depressant for her "bipolar disorder". It was not really because she was bipolar but for the strange sad emptiness that Petunia felt inside recently. It was like she was empty and her world shriveled up and died.

　　It was not like she didn't already have anything she could want it was as if she only wanted one thing. And that one thing was out of her reach. "Petunia?" She heard her mother call to her as she stared at her cereal. "Yes ma?" her mother smiled.

　　"Please be careful in the forest, you don't know what dangers lurk in the foliage. I'd like to have my daughter back in one piece." Petunia laughed at her mother before chucking her spoon at her mother who as usual dodged the object in a abnormal speed.

　　"Baby, why aren't you afraid of anything" Petunia's mother asked her. Petunia turned to look at her mother who had her arms crossed over each other. "I am afraid mom, but you can't live in fear. Things won't work out that way."

　　Her mother only smiled at her and shook her head, "Sometimes I wonder where you get all this courage from" Petunia laughed and shook her head. "I'll only be gone for two weeks. It's not like I'm going to die. With dads crazy thoughts of making me learn different fighting techniques, I'm indestructible." her mother came up to hug Petunia. It wasn't that she was afraid for her daughters health, it was that she was afraid for the next solstice.

　　***

　　Uriah Del D'Ozo woke up to the sound of the village voices surrounding the jungle. Sweat covered his body as he had jerked awake from his dream. He knew it wasn't a dream but more of the spirit state. It was where his mind retreated to where he would find his mate. She was there. She opened their connection and he found her. Together they shared an experience, what was worse was that he enjoyed it and woke up with a raging erection. So much that it hurt. It ached. He needed his mate soon or the next cycle will be disrupted.

　　Uriah exited his hut when he knew it was safe and found his mother among the tribes women. She looked at him and smiled. "You know...you're cycle is almost over, she is near." the fire that she was making grew. Her black night hair was long with beads tangled into the mass and a thin line of gray hair showed her strength. "You're brother has left to find his mate...and I could feel that you have found yours, why do you not seek her? If you don't find your mate soon...you would lose your abilities by the next winter solstice."

　　He sat down next to the fire. "I will not seek out one I've never met. I do not need a mate mother" but he himself felt the untruth and the growl of his spirit scold him. That was not true. Uriah's mother only shook her head. "You know that without your mate, your animal guide will not be able to stay with you. You've twenty nine years yet you do not seek your mate. I know Uriah as your mother, that you seek pleasure, and with your mate that pleasure is-"

　　Uriah stopped his mother from finishing. It was enough that his mother was able to foresee people's auras and read off of that, but he did not want his mom to read his sexual desires.

　　His people, he was born into a race of shifters. Once they hit puberty a certain birthmark appears before them, a painful rite that initiated itself into his core. He bore the shifter of the panther. Across his back was a black mark of a jaguar and he has not shifted into the jaguar fully until he completed the ritual of the final part, with his mate.

　　Once, under a solstice you must mate with your other half and then you have complete transformation.

　　The story begins where humans were animals. The animals were led by spirits and those spirits could not bring these warring different set of animals to intertwine. Along with shifters were different sets of shifters but they were too different from animal spirits. Some were led by the devil, practicing dark spells. When they were created, the source let all these magical beings tap into its bottomless power and gave them powers. But then humans came along and feared what they could not control. They hunted the beings and everyone magical hid and overtime they mixed with humans, the human body couldn't handle all the power and in mixing their bloodline, they became weak over time.

　　Now every new shifter is grown into a human body but once they find their other half they are to able to once again shift into their true animal form. It was apparent that Uriah would transform into his true form...after he did the mating bond and let his mate's power guide him to his animal spirit to fully become what he once was. If not then both of them would lose their abilities. Uriah did not want that, but he was also afraid. A few months before he had to put down a good friend who was misusing his mate. She was forced to try and mate with his friend when she was not ready at the age of twelve, but in doing so he was raping the young girl.

　　Some of the people's animal spirit were just plain bad, especially around their mate and Uriah was afraid of that. He did not want to hurt his mate because his mother had raised him better. She did not understand the dangers each animal spirits mate was, his mother wasn't born with the power to shift but she was able to see into some of the future, which made her the prophet that she was. His father died and took most of their shared power with him. If anything, it made his mom the human that she once was. With the mates mixed in with human society, they had choices now. And they had forgotten about their past lives and the abilities to keep their animal spirits under control. How could he selfishly take that away from an innocent.

　　Uriah sensed his mate was near but he knew, he would not pursue her until he knew he can control the beast inside. He would not want to condemn both him and his mate and he didn't want for her to hate him for the rest of their lives. And that was a long life ahead of them for her to hate him.

　　He grabbed some supplies and threw them into a backpack. He was going to trek to the visitor center where he was going to meet with a friend who he had agreed to be the guide/protector for some university trip. What Uriah didn't understand was why those who knew that the forest was dangerous still wanted to venture out here for some purpose. Even if it might be educational.

　　Giving his mother a goodbye, he left heading in the direction to greet the newcomers.